And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:1 & 2

HERETIC ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WARNING; READING THIS BLOG MAY PROVE UNHEALTHY TO YOUR ORTHODOXY!!!!

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Nature of God; 'I AM WHO I AM'

'God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit & Truth'

John 4:24

'Mother Earth' is a popular term these days, for the womb that has born us, and sustains us throughout! It can also be a term of Deity, for pantheists especially, for those who believe that the Divine is in everything, with everything being Divine. One can almost make sense of this notion, with the idea that our Creator, whatever form He/She takes, is the basis for our existence, and therefore Father & Mother!

Keeping in mind that in Luke 1:35, we read, '[ the ] Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you' ( referring to Mary's impregnation with the Son of God ), it is abundantly clear, in our English translation anyway, that Scripture does give us ample reason to view the god-head, even God Himself, as of the male gender! The argument has been made in certain circles, that the female Divine may be represented in the 'person' of the ( trinitarian ) Holy Spirit, but this would seem to be contrary to Luke's aversion that the Holy Spirit was the One who impregnated the virgin Mary.

We read, as well, in Numbers 23:19, that 'God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent'! I may rightfully be accused of proof-texting at this juncture, but there it is, 'God is not a man'; by extension, He is not a woman either, neither male nor female, not human, so to speak! In context, the writer is alluding to the fact that God, unlike a human being, does not have a selfish nature like we are prone to exhibit, but possesses a totally different nature, One that is so far beyond our comprehension, that the closest we can get to defining it is to liken it to that of a father with his children!

The question, should you choose to accept it, then remains; 'is there gender in the God-head?' Can we rightfully say that our Creator is either male or female? If we take too literally the trinitarian teaching of Father, Son & Holy Spirit, we might almost be tempted to go there. to wonder if maybe the Son is the Offspring of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit ( 'Holy Sex, Batman!' ). We need not go this far, however, because to do so not only offends the sensibilities of some of the more sensitive ( puritannical? ) Christians out there, it could literally lead us down paths where angels shouldn't tread!

As we have seen, and there is so much more 'clear' proof, the Scriptures most certainly ascribe a maleness to our Creator! Though we are accustomed to using male pronouns in describing our Heavenly Father, it must be understood that our Creator proclaimed to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'! ( Exodus 3:14 ) No matter what gender we may try to assign to our Creator, He/She is not, nor will ever be limited by it! Scripture tells us that He is our Father, but it could also be argued that She is our nurturing Mother! ( Not sure how far we want to go there, either )

The best explanation might be found in the Story of Israel, the Marriage of Heaven & Earth! In History, our Creator God came down from His heavenly abode and deemed to dwell among mere men ( humanity ). He became Man, in the form of Israel's Messiah, that He might make Israel His Bride & us His People!

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New King James Version

Throughout this blog, unless otherwise noted, I have used the New King James Version ( NKJV ) of the Word of God, as revealed in the Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac Old and New Covenant Scriptures.

Although I use mostly this version ( NKJV ) throughout this blog; I do not view the NKJV ( or any other version ) as the final, authoritative Word of God, but merely man-made translations of said Word of God, which, I believe, according to II Timothy 3:16, is authoritative in all walks of life.

disclaimer

This blog contains writings from up to 10 years ago. Although I have tried to be consistent in my beliefs over the years; the earlier articles on my blog may reflect a slightly more immature view. As you read, therefore, you may notice a slight progression in thought.